A process for fastening a door on the body of a motor vehicle has been known from DE 33 42 570 C2, in which the bodies are cyclically conveyed at spaced locations from one another by an endless conveyor to a predetermined point and the door provided with two hinges fastened in different planes one on top of another is moved by an industrial robot in the correct position to the location of the hinge and fastened. The door is moved movably in space in an articulated manner, floatingly, against the opening provided for this purpose until a contact finger comes into contact with a point intended for this purpose. Simultaneously with the determination of the height of the hinges by touching, the angular position of the outwardly directed side wall of the hinge part in question in relation to the body is recognized, and both the values for the vertical height assignment of the hinges and the values for the angular position of the hinges are sent to a computer. The door hinges, already connected to the door, are then welded to the body by one or more welding robots independently from the values determined by touching stored in the computer. Inaccuracies due to the tolerances of the sensors and the robot technology may occur time and time again with this so-called sensor-guided robot technology. In addition, the subsequent assembly of the interior installations of the automobile may be hindered due to the door being mounted on the body at an early stage. It is therefore frequently desirable to fasten first only the door hinges on the door pillars of the body, possibly in the correct position, and to insert the door only later, possibly after the complete interior assembly.
A similar process has been known from JP 02-258 485 A, in which the width of the door opening is likewise measured with a plurality of measuring scanners and the position of the body is measured by means of an imaging camera, the measured values are acquired centrally, and the further installation of the door hinges is controlled by means of an NC machine.
DE 40 11 909 C3 describes a passenger car door, which has special three-dimensional joints at the hinges in order to simplify the mounting and removal. Contrary to the above-mentioned philosophy of assembly, according to which all inner parts must be introduced into the interior of the automobile through the doors already welded or bolted on, the doors themselves are mounted later by the completely painted doors assembled completely with the windows and window lifter mechanism being mounted on the door pillars only after the body has been outfitted. However, assembly by means of these three-dimensional joints, which have a relatively complicated design, is difficult and time-consuming because of the accurate positioning.